Sweet potato spring rolls

Remember earlier this season when I made those (delicious) mint spring rolls? And remember how I said it would make the perfect summer appetizer? Well, today I beefed (or chickened, haha!) it up a little and now you can enjoy your spring rolls for dinner! These guys are filled with veggies and protein, which will give you all of the nutrition and staying power you could want in a dinner. And if I may say so myself… they taste pretty good too (Derek always laughs when I compliment food that I made myself)!

I have a slight obsession with sweet potato. It is no secret that this root veggie is a nutritional power house. And as much as they have a distinct fall/winter feel about them I have been going nuts and adding sweet potato to everything. If you’ve ever been over to my house for dinner you most likely had some form of sweet potato. I may be turning orange soon!

Putting sweet potato into spring rolls is just a logical step in my quest for sweet potato domination! Oh, and the asparagus is the perfect addition, especially now that asparagus is in season.

Except for the seasoning on the chicken and sweet potatoes, there isn’t any added flavour to the spring rolls (other than the naturally good taste of the veggies!). I am a big time condiment person. A dipper, if you will. That’s why these spring rolls are getting a little barbecue sauce buddy on the side… instead of putting it right in the wrap. If you are serving these to guests you can give each person a little bowl of sauce on the side. Not only is it cute, but people can choose how much sauce they want.

They may look pretty labour intensive, but I promise you it took me no time to make. The longest part is cooking the chicken and sweet potatoes, but if you are a “mulitasker extraodinaire” you can prep the other veggies and switch over a load of laundry and check your email while the bird and taters cook.

I wasn’t really counting, but I think I ate about 6 of these guys last night – I just couldn’t stop. They are SO fresh! When Derek got home from volleyball he scarfed down 4 of these. This just proves that they keep very well, so you can make these spring rolls in advance and enjoy them for dinner or with your guests later.

You will need:

Rice paper wraps

A large flat bowl (or serving dish) with warm water

A clean tea towel

Green leaf lettuce, washed

1 Whole red pepper

1 Large sweet potato

15 Stalks of asparagus (no, I didn’t count them!)

2 Chicken breasts

Olive oil

Cayenne pepper

Yellow curry powder

Salt and pepper

Barbecue sauce

How to:

Preheat the oven to 425 F.

Wash and peel the sweet potato. Cut into strips, like fries. In a large bowl, toss the sweet potato strips in the olive oil, cayenne pepper, curry powder, salt and pepper. Lay out flat on a baking sheet.

On the same baking sheet, place the two chicken breasts and season with salt and pepper. Place in the oven.

While the sweet potato and chicken is in the oven, chop the red pepper and asparagus into strips (about 4 -5 inches long)

Lightly steam the asparagus (I prefer to use a steamer in the microwave)

Once the chicken (about 35 minutes) and sweet potato (about 25 minutes) is done, cut the chicken into thin long strips.

Lay a damp tea towel flat on your counter and place a rice paper wrap into a flat bowl of warm water. Leave it in for about 10 seconds or until pliable.

Carefully place the rice paper wrap onto the damp tea towel and arrange your toppings in line right in the middle of the wrap.

Fold the left and right sides of the wraps in towards the middle of the wrap. This will sort of form a vertical rectangle in front of you. Next, fold the bottom half of the rectangle over the vegetables and tuck it in gently underneath your veggies. Gently roll the spring roll upwards until it is closed up at the top. You will notice that the rice paper sticks nicely to itself and you have a cute little burrito.